Aztec Indians Essay Research Paper The Aztec free essay sample

Aztec Indians Essay, Research Paper The Aztec Indians, who are known for their domination of southern and cardinal Mexico, ruled between the 14th and 16th centuries. They built a great imperium and developed really modernised ways of making things. They had phenomenal architectural accomplishments and waterway systems. The Aztec Indians besides had really developed societal category and authorities systems and practiced a signifier of faith. To get down with, the Aztecs were really skilled in the art of Architecture and waterway systems. ? An illustration of the monumental architecture within the Aztec society is the great pyramid of Tenochtitlan. Montezuma I, who was the swayer of the Aztecs in 1466, created it. The pyramid was non finished until the regulation of Montezuma II, around 1508? ( Carrasco, Montezuma Mexico, Pg. 49 ) . ? Aztec metropoliss and towns besides had working imbibing H2O and waste intervention systems. An intricate plumbing system utilizing clay pipes ran down from the mountains around Mexico vale to all of the towns and metropoliss in the vale. We will write a custom essay sample on Aztec Indians Essay Research Paper The Aztec or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As the H2O ran into each town or metropolis it was the dispersed to 10 or 12 topographic points around town were it flowed into a pool for imbibing H2O or was piped into public baths and lavatories. Merely Lords had working imbibing and bathing systems with running H2O in their places. The sewerage system worked much like today, holding human wastes carried to a aggregation pool where solids were collected, and so holding liquids run off into a series of patios which filtered the H2O. Solid wastes were allowed to sit in a aggregation pool for about six months and so were brought to the lake gardens to be used as fertiliser? ( Jennings, Aztec, Pg. 220 ) . ? The Aztec societal construction contained four good defined categories. At the underside of the pile were slaves and helot, or the Tlacotli, who worked the private lands of the aristocracy. Following came the Macehualtin, ? the fortunate, ? as they were called because they were every bit free of the heavy duty of the aristocracy and of the slave? s liability to being meanly used. They were the merchandisers, tradesmans and craftsmans that made up the majority of the population. The Macehualtin belonged to place blood-related groups known as calpulli or? large houses, ? each of which had it? s ain lands, kin leaders, and temple? ( Jennings, Aztec, Pg. 354 ) . ? After that came the familial aristocracy or Pipiltin, who supplied the top administrative officials in the Aztec imperial system, and from whose ranks was a formed a council which advised the emperor and elected his replacement from the opinion line of descent. Besides all of the aristocracy had the sound # 8220 ; ztin # 82 21 ; added to the terminal of their name. At the really top of the ladder was the Uey-Tlatoani, or revered talker. He had absolute control over civil personal businesss and it was his occupation to increase the size of the Aztec Empire every twelvemonth and if he didn # 8217 ; t pay adequate wars within a period of clip he would be impeached and replaced by the Pipiltin? ( Oliphant, Atlas of the Ancient World. Pg. 268 ) . ? The Aztec authorities consisted of chiefly of the leading of the royal house and the huge bureaucratism backed by it. The Uey-Tlatoani dealed chiefly with external personal businesss of the Aztec imperium, such as get downing wars and doing peace pacts. Besides there was a parallel swayer, another member of the royal line of descent, known as the Cihuacoatl. He dealt chiefly with the internal personal businesss of Tenochti tlan such as the H2O system and the justness system. The bureaucratism was set into topographic point by the Lords and performed the same map that civil retainers execute today? ( Oliphant, Atlas of the Ancient World, 195 ) . To keep the imperium the Aztec authorities made the districts it conquered contributes twice annually. Taxs were collected from the districts besides and careful histories were kept of what districts had to pay. The heavy revenue enhancement and forced testimonial disgruntled many districts. When Hernando Cortez arrived in the early 1500’s they were happy to assist him as undercover agents and sources? ( Blacker, Cortez and The Aztec Conquest, 143 ) . ? Aztec faith was based on the worship of many Gods, but the most of import was the Sun God. Aztec priests were non allowed to bathe or rinse of all time during their clip as a priest. This resulted in the priests going encrusted with blood and backbones over clip. The Great Pyramid was built as a giving platform to the Gods. At the really top were an communion table and a statue of the Sun God, which had a hollow organic structure in which the priests placed their victim? s bosom? ( Oliphant, Atlas of the Ancient World, Pg. 197 ) . Every twelvemonth Tenochtitlan launched a? Flowery War, ? in which mock conflicts would take topographic point for the exclusive intent of taking captives. Normally the wars were little between states in the imperium but one twelvemonth a big war with an overpowering licking by the state of Tenochtitlan took topographic point and it is estimated that between 10 and 80 1000 captives were taken? ( Jennings, Aztec, Pg. 436 ) . ? After a? Flowery War, ? capti ves were marched back to a states capital and put to a? Flowery Death. ? That is, being sacrificed to the Gods. In the twelvemonth that Tenochtitlan took all those captives, it took the priests one full hebdomad to set all the captives to decease. It is said that the country around The great pyramid turned into a lake of blood and the hemorrhoids of organic structures were taller so the buildings. ? ( Jennings, Aztec, Pg. 328. ) These different elements show how the Aztec civilization flourished for so long, but besides they besides show how it brought about the Aztecs terminal. Without these features, the Aztecs would hold neer developed into the immense imperium and civilization that they became. The Aztec imperium is now gone, along with about all of the first-class works that the civilization created, the great lake, the centre of the one universe, and most of the Aztec memorials have been buried under the slums of what is now known as Mexico metropolis. The few artefacts that did last merely did so because they were placed in a museum or buried and delve up late. What a sad terminals for what was one time the most comfortable state in Latin America. One thing has survived though, the Aztec linguistic communication Nahuatl, may it last everlastingly in rebelliousness of the 1s who tried to pass over it from the face of the Earth. Plants Cited Blacker, Irwan R, Cortez and the Aztec conquering, New York: American Heritage, 1978. Carrasco, David, Scott Sessions. Niwot Colorado: University imperativeness of Colorado, 1992. Pg. 49. Coe, Michael, Elizabeth Benson. Atlas of Ancient America. New York: Equinox, 1986. Pg. 125, 128, 130, 146. Jennings, Gary. Aztec. Avon, 1980. Pg. 92, 220, 329, 354, 436. Oliphant, Margaret. Atlas of the Ancient World. Simon A ; Shuster, 1992. Pg. 195, 197, 268.